Let’s all stop comparing NHL goalies to NFL Quarterbacks

by admin on Thursday, February 28th, 2013

Let’s all stop comparing NHL goalies to NFL Quarterbacks

Hello my name is John Sheppard; this is my first blog for Around the Rink. I thank the web administrator of this site for giving me a chance to write first and foremost. I will do a weekly blog and sometimes there may be more than one a week, depending if something crazy happens or I just feel the need to vent on a subject… This does happen often during the hockey season like this week I sort of felt a tinge of wanting to say something because of the idiocity of TSN’s the Reporters calling Toronto the second best team in a Canadian city. Why should I dedicate my first blog to the soft non hockey fans of the Reporters though, they were saying the same thing about Toronto last year in December but two months later called them a terrible team. Bottom line, The Reporters should never talk hockey since they know little about the actual game and want it changed to reflect how they want it played. Which is to be not played at all.

No, I decided after weeks of thinking about it that my first blog should be on a subject I do feel I know something about. Protection of Goalies in todays game and comparisons to other sports. I played in net as a child growing up, played a bit of high school hockey and my first love of hockey does not go to my team (The Boston Bruins) but to the position I played when I did play.

The position you played when you did play no matter who you are defines how you watch the game. I can spot a kicked in goal a mile away before replays whereas a forward thinks a goal is good. Does that make my knowledge greater then someone else who played say Right Wing, god no it just makes how we view the game different.

With that being said I hate absolutely hate the comparison of needing to treat the goalie like the NFL treats the Quarter back. There is nothing further from the truth of the NHL treating goalies like the NFL treats Quarterbacks, if the NHL actually did treat them like Quarterbacks I don’t think I’d have a problem. Right now the NHL says you can’t hit a goalie, ever… Not nudge him, not get punched in the back by the goalie absolutely no physical contact with the goalie whatsoever never ever. This is not how the NFL treats the QB this is how the NFL treats the most unathletic position in legitimate professional sports. It is how the NFL treats the kicker.

Now I bet there are readers who are saying this guy makes no sense the NHL is treating the weak goalies like QB’s and not kickers. So if you are one of those people or someone who said ‘hmn interesting where is he going?’ answer me this; What is a Sack?

Now for those of you who don’t know a sack is when a QB is tackled before releasing the ball and still behind the line of scrimmage. Wait a second did I just a QB is tackled but the NHL would have you believe that a QB is never ever in a million years touched or harmed in such a fashion. We should see our players do all they can to avoid a goalie who is out to top of the circle to make a play.

You see the NHL which should be no surprise to anyone and the NHL experts are wrong about goalies… Well except Brett Hull, who said “Stay in the crease”. The only position you are not allowed to hit even if you get there for a chance is the kicker or punter. So next time you see one of the Bruce Arthur’s (who is awesome writer for non-contact sports) or the Darren Dreger’s (Awesome insider but is to invested in Toronto at times) say QB laugh at them. Flat out say “Stick to hockey because you don’t know shit about Football”

Or another thing you can say to one of those people who include GMs, owners and goalies. When they say we should treat the goalie like the NFL treats the QB agree with them. Say yes I 100 percent agree that if a goalie goes into a certain spot like playing the puck he should be able to get hit. Scratch that he should get hit not be able to get hit. He should get hit if the player can get there to hit him then smoke him. The goalies job is to stop the puck, not move the puck. It is a great skill to move the puck but once you as a goalie decide to move that puck you are no longer protected in my opinion, you need are a part of the play and need to be treated no different than the Dman.

When I played I remembered that whenever I went out of the crease my friends eyes went wide. They knew it was their chance to hit me, and they wanted to hit me. I got hit and I had to take it I went out of my crease and the rule then was if you go out of your net to play the puck then you can be hit. I’d get out of the net and my friends eyes would light up and then I’d be like “God Damn it Alan, we’re on the same team” “Sorry couldn’t resist”

Something happened along the way in the last year though since Lucic hit on Ryan Miller which caused a concussion. It was Lucic hitting him in the shoulder that Ryan Miller says caused him a concussion not the Buffalo Defensemen sending Seguin into the goalie and Millers HEAD hitting the cross bar causing a concussion.

Now with new rules in place you can’t even have a goalie touch you without getting a penalty. Look at the Ottawa/Montreal game where Silverburg had a perfect screen on Price. Carey Price did what every goalie does when they’re being screened he hit Silverburg in the back with his blocker. A very common practice and generally accepted as legal as it should be. While Price was doing that though there was a shot from t he point which beat Price clean. This goal was disallowed because Price was hitting Silverburg and they then called the penalty on Silverburg for goalie interference. Ah the NHL so backwards it stopped being funny around the time a small man stood up on six phone books and announced the NHL was locking out a second time in less than 10 years.

Having the rule as it is leads to so many wrong choices; it leads to a dangerous steep cliff that no real fan of the game of hockey wants to see. It leads to Kadri going into Rask and Rask embellishing the contact. A goal was disallowed as it should have been but only one penalty was called. WRONG, there should have definitely been two calls on that play one for Kadri for going towards the goalie who was getting position to make a save the other for Rask who obviously went over the top with the dive. It was almost Kesler level of diving for that play, almost but not many reach the Kesler level of diving.

This is the road we are unfortunately heading down, a road of Hasek style theatrics in the goal where very soon much like HAsek used to do we’ll see the helmet get thrown off as they scream in pain while wishing the ref would just blow the whistle. I despise what the NHL has done with this contact on goalies it is going to cause another god damn idiotic 1999 incident. A good goal that is controversial because of a stupid rule.

So let’s squash that rule now before we have another incident in an important game which won’t blacken the leagues eyes because both are already black. It will break the back of the NHL if we have a ‘controversial’ Stanley Cup winning goal.

So yes lets get rid of that rule, and let’s have goalies who want to handle the puck be able to get sacked. This will actually open up the game as if goalies fear getting out of the crease to handle the puck it gives the forecheck a time to develop.

For the love of god though NEVER EVER compare a goalie to a quarter back again EVER. As of right now Goalies are kickers, they aren’t really part of the team they are just there. That is the actual way the NHL and its management view the goaltender as a unathletic not really a player… kicker